How Your GPS Is Actually Increasing Your Insurance Budget

Global positioning services, which actually help you locate the nearest restaurant, events place or gymnasium in the area, is actually placing more harm than help to you. Insurance companies are actually reviewing cases of personal danger to health or safety with regards to customers who continually post where they are and their location in the world. According to experts, the insurance industry might increase the premiums of such people.

While you might consider this unfair, it is only fair to every customer concerned because GPS services locate you, and this information is automatically shared to your social circles in the Internet. If your profile is not even private or if you have some only “online” friends that you don’t know personally, you are putting yourself at risk of crime or personal danger.

Risk analysts advise customers that they should only post their location without the GPS settings turned on. They should also only post photos of their location once they get home from their vacations. Being put at risk by allowing people who are not in your network and only near your location to get to you easy is putting yourself at great risk for every premium you have with your insurance.

Confirming the Rumours About the New iPhone 5S

Apple is reportedly releasing the new iPhone 5S by the third quarter of 2013. What was first a rumour was validated by technology news websites. News about a slightly better camera and better chipset on the iPhone 5S are just a few of the upgrades the flagship product is getting.

Apple is also planning to announce its iOS7 software at the WWDC in June and a press conference on September for the iPhone 5S’ appearance is scheduled.

Analysts and industry experts expect Apple to release its sixth iPhone version by 2014. Experts are also fretting about Apple’s lack of innovation for its 5^th version of the flagship product.

Experts are also guessing on what the new iOS7 could provide Apple product users. Recently, its dispute with Samsung and Google had led to Apple abandoning Google data, sparking the ire of many customers. However, Apple introduced a more useful Siri application, shared photo streams, global phone app controls and more. As for iOS7, experts have made their list of what they want the iOS7 to do for consumers.

Industry experts see that Apple’s new iPhone 5S upgrades may be a response to Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 release, which boasts great innovation and may push down Apple’s flagship product down the drain.

Source: Techradar.com

Fraudulent Whiplash Claims Inflating Car Insurance Premiums

Motorists are blown away by the price of their insurance premiums today as fraudulent whiplash compensation claims add £118 to premiums per year. Insurance company Aviva confirms this in a recent investigation that revealed the insurance industry loses £2 billion to fraudulent claims. The insurance company advises that claims management companies and personal injury lawyers cause the inflating costs.

Aviva said that the industry could take down at least £1.5 billion if victims directly made their whiplash claim to the insurance company itself. The industry can implement an immediate £60 reduction for insurances. However, personal injury lawyers advised against the move, saying that insurance companies are complacent to reduce their insured’s compensation to decrease overhead costs, and only by talking to intermediaries would victims get a fair chance of earning proper compensation.

Whiplash is an injury a victim suffers between the back of the neck and the head. Because of sudden inertia, the area “snaps” forward and back abruptly, which can rupture nerves and tissue. Severe whiplash injuries can cause paralysis. For most ignorable to minor cases, victims suffer nausea, neck pain and disorientation.

The Ministry of Justice had new whiplash claim guidelines implemented to ensure that genuine whiplash claims are easily passed through but strictness is implemented in seemingly suspicious claims. The new guidelines are set to be implemented this year.

Groupon CEO Ousted, Experts See Troubling Future for Group Deal Websites

Groupon, a famous ‘daily deals’ website, yesterday ousted its company founder and CEO Andrew Mason for poor performance. The company’s IPO had lowered to 77% from the last date the company had an all-time high of $20 per share. Customer and merchant dissatisfaction and disappointing ROIs have become the first line of trouble for the group deals website.

groupon

The Chicago-based online deals company reached a $6 billion bid from Google during its peak. Andrew Mason founded the company in 2011 when it had a value of $13 billion.

Industry figures and businessmen speculated about Mason’s job being in jeopardy after the month-per-month failure to improve their figures. Experts are also concerned about the company’s future. With disappointing figures on Wednesday that lowered shares by 25%. Upon announcement of Mason’s ousting, the shares increased by 5.5%.

‘Daily Deal’ websites, such as Groupon and Livingsocial, entered the virtual market as a new line of business parallel to Google and new social media websites. As major Internet websites and social networks invested in these daily deal websites, worries about the industry becoming an “overnight hit” went in full after Livingsocial reported a $650 million net loss in the recent year.

Experts speculate that daily deal websites may just go out of business soon.

Source: USA Today

FOS Still Unimpressed With Bank Performance

The financial industry knows the impartiality Financial Ombudsman Chief Natalie Ceeney has for its efforts in the PPI scandal and yet, Ceeney continues to lambast banks for its PPI claims activities. Ceeney remains “unimpressed” with the efforts of banks, who she says “still continue to drag their feet” to refund their customers. Her criticism comes from the evidences presented by Claims Standards Council policy director Andy Wigmore, who proved that banks had tried to delay, hassle and even reduce consumer repayments for PPI claims.

The FOS was rumoured to have proposed a no-claim payout to the Financial Services Authority and other UK regulators to ensure banks paid the proper compensation to customers. The method was simple; banks, together with regulators, would look up names of mis-serviced customers and refund them for mis sold insurance or other services such as bank charges.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is currently handling 11,000 claims on a weekly basis. Most of the claims were bank-rejected PPI template letters, which banks did not bother to investigate. The Financial Ombudsman upholds at least 7 out of 10 bank-rejected claims, bringing the ire of Ceeney against the banks who “are not doing their investigative responsibilities properly, effectively nearly “clogging” the PPI process of the FOS”.

Claims management companies, such as ppitemplateletter.co, are offering their services to customers mis sold the insurance policy. If you need to make a claim for mis sold PPI or you need help in creating effective PPI template letters, you could consult for free or have the experts make a claim for you under a no win no fee basis of service.

Medical Negligence: How High is the Risk?

Any UK hospital or hospital in general has a medical negligence risk. If not for the medical professional, it can certainly be due to sanitation or faulty hospital equipment. Medical negligence can inflict disastrous and even life-changing damages if one is not too careful. The risk of incurring such problems is very high, according to analysts.

In reality, the NHS Wales Risk Pool was increased by £18m this year, which citizens take as a government counter-action against the increasing payouts for medical negligence. Authorities blame it on no win no fee compensation claims, wherein the legal representative asks for fees from the medical board or hospital itself upon losing a case.

But the legal representatives themselves state that the compensation for grave medical negligence injuries have increased greatly. In 2009, solicitors recalled that an average medical negligence claim can reach £4m; it reaches £10m today. According to legal experts, due to the high life expectancy of most victims and the new medical procedures and specialty that can help make them better, which are quite expensive, is why the medical negligence risk pools are increasing.

But how high is the risk of having a grave injury under the care of an NHS medical expert or by just being in their facility? Statistics from a 2011 report show that medical negligence increased by 18.8% from 2005, which makes it likely that your professional can commit clinical negligence on your part.

With the high medical negligence claim risk, it is important that you know how to make a medical negligence claim. For details, approach a medical negligence claims specialist such as at www.MedicalNegligenceClaimsCo.org as soon as possible.

What You Need in Cleaning Your Gadgets

Cleaning computers and small gadgets requires a special set of discipline and tools to ensure that you properly do the task. Gadgets and computers have delicate parts. These basic items and techniques should come in handy if you have any trouble with your gadgets function or dirt came into your LCD.

1 A Small Screwdriver Set

Any gadget repair shop has a good screwdriver set that has at least 0.001mm as the smallest screw. Small screw sets are advised because some gadget screws can be sensitive. Also, take note of the screw slots; some have special screw heads, such as a triangle-slot, than the usual Philips and flathead types.

2. De-Static Workshop

As much as possible, when cleaning your electronic gadgets, touch a metal surface first before you begin. This transmits the static from your hands to the metal and reduces the risk of overloading certain circuitry. Gadgets are made of small circuitry that can also overload with static electricity. Work on a wooden table to ensure that it is free of static.

3. Soldering Iron

Sometimes, when you clean your gadgets, some pins may come loose from the solder. Having a soldering iron on hand makes it convenient to replace and repair the loose resistors and circuitry. Practice caution though; a greatly heated solder can destroy some fragile circuitry.

4. Patience

You will be removing tons of screws and you might be looking at circuits that are difficult to remove because you will need to remove another area of the product’s assembly. By having patience, you can remove them effectively while minimizing damages to the certain parts. By growing impatient, you may destroy certain parts of the product.

Galaxy S3′s Sudden Death Reports Point to Corrupted NAND

Reports of Samsung Galaxy S3′s becoming “bricked” after 150-200 days of use from the date of purchase are growing at a fast rate and developers believe a corrupted NAND memory chip on the affected units are actually the culprits. The controversial Galaxy S3 that received the ire of Apple for design infringement has become more controversial because of its sudden death syndrome.

A developer on Reddit described that the S3 mainboards died on his device for no reason while it was connected to a wall charger. The green light of his device was turned on but it did not responded. With a few resets and no effect, he removed the battery and tried another charger, but still he found nothing.

The NAND speculation was only raised by developers and more experienced users, but Samsung, greatly aware of the situation, is also addressing the situation with a stop-gap solution, to replace the device with the same mainboard that died, leaving customers with a device that could break down the same time as the earlier mainboard did.

Further research and development is encouraged by many users who are still under product warranty. The S3 is found by many users to be very friendly in terms of its interface and its many features rival that of the iPhone 5. If not for the brick issue, the device may have led the market of smartphones, according to analysts.

Source: Ibitimes.com

PPI Claims: How Your Trouble Starts

Many claimants and authorities make it sound easy to make PPI claims nowadays but do not doubt them; it truly is easy to make a PPI claim today. The PPI compensation bill banks have set aside for the 3.2 billion mis sold the insurance policy ensures each one mis sold receives their repayment. However, there are still troubles you could encounter when making a PPI claim.

1. Banks Delaying Your PPI Claim

Andy Wigmore, the Claims Standards Council policy director, states that there is great evidence that banks are delaying the claims of customers, let alone even trying to ensure that customers get minimum payout from their claims as possible. Claimants have also pointed out that banks have “sudden amnesia”, suddenly claiming that they only keep records of up to six years. Other examples are when previously say the claim is being processed, then when the customer follows up, tells that the claim has been forfeited.

2. Instant Rejection

It is estimated that banks have profited at least £5 billion from mis selling PPI during the era of insurance boom and had 3.2 billion people paying for something they don’t need. The Financial Ombudsman criticises banks for rejecting claims instantly without proper investigation of the claim as the FOS finds seven out of 10 bank-rejected PPI claims to be valid. If the banks refuse your claim, forward it to the Financial Ombudsman.

3. Quantity

One hassle you might find is that the Financial Ombudsman deals with 1,500 PPI claims on a daily basis, which forced it to expand its manpower and workspaces to handle the situation properly. Your claim is guaranteed proper attention and follow up but it might be a bit slow. This is why many claimants and experts advise consumers to make a claim as soon or as early as possible.

London Fire Brigade Considering the Usage of Social Media for Emergencies

The London Fire Brigade is now considering using social media such as Twitter to allow people to tweet emergencies having tagged the fire brigade’s social media similar to 999-style emergency calls. The fire brigade states that with the new technology enhancements in communication, they must step up to the demand.

In the past, the London Fire Brigade used social media to tackle fires and other emergencies. A large fire in west London January this year actually had social media help firefighters, who were searching for information from social media users about the severity of the fire, allowed the fire brigade to equip themselves with the proper gear and strategy to tackle the fire in the area.

Before the London Fire Brigade began considering social media for fire operations and reports, different government and world organizations have used social media to raise awareness about certain topics, implementations and coordination during emergencies.

Asian countries, such as Japan and the Philippines, use social media and hashtags to link information provided by different users about a topic to help. The recent storm in the Philippines had the hashtag #pabloph used to help people looking for information about the storm find what they need easily using the tag.

Analysts say that should UK fires begin, people can make use of hashtags to deposit information about the fire easily, saving firefighters much time from researching social media and instead focusing on their strategy and action.

Source: BBC